Meet Adam Valastro, he travelled for nearly 3 years to 11 countries, spending less than AU$12,000 and was able to exchange his tradie skills for food, accommodation and experience.

Which then inspired him to create Travelling Tradies.
Where tradesman and trades-people to travel around the world free.

We first met Adam when he pitched MYOB’s Pitch-For-A-Spot, where he and his startup, gained 12-months of rent-free office space at our Hawthorn location

Travelling is a great way to:
– find your purpose
– learn about yourself
– learn what’s important
– learn other culture
– realise that the world is bigger than us

Listen to Adam’s story & enjoy this vlog

Transcript

Tobi Skovron:                This man needs no introduction. He is the… The Traveling Tradie, Adam Valastro. So for those of you that are first time viewers to Adam’s story, Adam actually pitched as part of the NYOB pitch for a spot. He won 12 months rent free and has built a platform.

Adam Valastro:             In the process of.

Tobi Skovron:                Or in the process of building a platform for tradesmen and trades people to be able to…

Adam Valastro:             Travel the world and basically exchange their skills all around the world for food and accommodation. So my story basically is I’m a plumber by trade. Worked in the industry for about 12 years, but got to a point where I had everything from the outside in and nothing really from the inside out.

Adam Valastro:             I had money, I had assets. I had everything that in the eyes of everybody else should’ve made me happy and I was absolutely miserable.

Tobi Skovron:                Sure.

Adam Valastro:             Waking up every day totally burnt out, not having the energy to even get out of bed, drugs and alcohol were me vice. So that was the solution, I guess, bandaid solution for me to try and fill the void inside me. That didn’t work. Got to a point where I kept getting lower and lower and lower. I was working in Perth. A couple of lads I knew took their own lives in about a week and a half. And that was my straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak. Resigned from my job, booked a ticket to South America and basically disappeared.

Tobi Skovron:                And you’re here now.

Adam Valastro:             Yeah, I’m here now. So basically when I was overseas I wanted to travel for a minimum of six months. Within the first month I’d spent a chunk of what I’d saved. So I became super resourceful. I was very confident in my trade skills. I knew that the rest of the road needed it. Just, if you’ve traveled anywhere in the world, you can usually see the trainee skill set. And basically offered my skills for food and accommodation.

Adam Valastro:             And that snowballed me to be able to travel for the next three and a bit years. And based in Charlottesville, 11 countries and spent less than $12,000. But the money aside, it was all the other benefits is for me as a person that really changed my perception as well as myself. Changed perspective, people, cultures, places, food and understanding what was actually important. Being from Australia, we’re a super lucky country. And sometimes we take that for granted.

Tobi Skovron:                And do you feel alive now?

Adam Valastro:             I do. I feel alive. I feel on a mission. I feel I have a purpose first time in my life.

Tobi Skovron:                Love that.

Adam Valastro:             And it was one of these things where it eventuated from taking risks and opportunity and having that feeling come to me and like the wall over there says, you work more now for something that I love than just something that I’m paid for.

Tobi Skovron:                So what’s in store for Traveling Tradies now?

Adam Valastro:             So right now we’re in the midst of finalising all the design and development for the platform. Basically we’ve done as much as we can on an advantage standpoint. We are creating the next platform for the MVP version of a select group of trainees. Select group of hostels in one country with our new revenue model that we’re designed. And basically planning to finish the build of that, test the shit out of it, and then go for investment to build it up.

Tobi Skovron:                Well, are you looking for investment at the moment?

Adam Valastro:             We are. We’re looking for aligned partners. We’re not going to just take any cash. We’re really looking for mentorship in the tech space as well. That’s the weakness that we have at the moment is finding an aligned person in as a CTO or as an advisor. And mentorship in double sided marketplaces is where we’re going.

Tobi Skovron:                Awesome. Well, if you’re watching, we’ll link Adam’s details below. Mate, I’ve got to tell you, the world is a brighter place when you’re in it.

Adam Valastro:             Thanks man.

Tobi Skovron:                So I’m glad you’ve overcome all of those personal obstacles. The energy that you bought to CreativeCubes over the last, more than 12 months now has been outstanding and I’m glad you’re here, man.

Adam Valastro:             Thanks bro. Appreciate it.

Tobi Skovron:                All right.

Adam Valastro:             Always a pleasure.

Tobi Skovron:                All right guys. Traveling Tradies.